do atheists believe in sin?

Question

I just posted an answer to an atheists question, and on his comments he says he does not believe in sin- because without God sin does not exist. So if this is what atheists believe, do you also believe that you are perfect? Because if you aren't then you sin. If you believe there is sin, what do you do about it?

interesting answers so far- and yes, I am a Christian- and no I am not being tired about being scared to death , because I am free in Christ. This comment , I hope, will not be taken wrong, but sin is wrong doing- can't people just call it that- you can chose to believe in the existence of God or not- but wrong is wrong-

one more question, without being rude- this is an assumption on my part maybe, and forgive me if it is- but you just being in a moral wrong, without accountable to God, what is wrong? there are absolute truths, but if you live your life only under your own moral compass, you are the final authority on what is right or wrong. Am I right, or am I wrong?

THE PETER- I think I can read- there is no sin- means they believe there is no sin. However what I am beginning to understand here is that someone who does not choose to believe in God puts there own "spin" on what is right and wrong- that is not a good idea though, when you think about it - since you say that humans are imperfect. Also how does getting a better education keep you from making wrong decisions as you call it- many criminals are more educated than I am. Education does not equal being right

Gilbert W - thanks I think you hit the nail on the head- if they deny God, they don't have to believe in sin- however everywhere we look God is there- we must pray that all people come to receive salvation in Christ- because whatever people choose to call it sin is sin, and God is God

Answer 1

If an atheist says he/she doesn't believe in sin, that's like the devil saying he doesn't believe in sin, because he is the epitome of sin. Some people say they are going to heaven because they believe in God. Well, Satan believes in God, and he sure isn't going to heaven. I believe atheists have faith. Every time they get on a plane, they have faith in the pilot that he/she will get them where they are going. Atheists musy believe in sin, because they come on here every day trying to prove there is no God, or get mad at us for saying there is.

Answer 2

if nobody gets hurt, and nobody has any regret, there is no mistake. So for example, many religious people would say that masturbation is an offense against God. Non-religious people would say that it is probably harmless. Unless for some reason you believe that somebody gets hurt by your actions there is nothing wrong. So whenever a religious person asks "is X a sin?" and the only person that can be affected by X is the person who performs the action, a non-religious person is a bit perplexed by the question.

Also, the thinking in terms of "sin" leads to a rather rule-based look on life. Many actions are right in one situation and wrong in another. So unless it is obvious to which situations you are referring calling something a sin isn't really helpful.

edit: well, that's an interesting question. I think I don't actually decide what's right or wrong. I think there are moral absolutes, and that we all have some feeling as to what those absolutes are, but that any definition is lacking. In every culture the ethic of reciprocity "treat others as you would like to be treated" appears in some form. I do believe that all the rest of ethics is just a lot of varying interpretations of that rule. Now where that rule comes from, I have no idea. But I sure did not make it up myself.

Answer 3

Sin is defined, basically, as that which is contrary to the will of God. So as atheists we don't believe in sin because we don't believe that there's a god to have a will. Simple really.

Do we have moral codes? Sure. Are there acts that, for whatever reason, we think are wrong? Yes. As with most people, we try to live kind, decent lives. We don't always. When we hurt someone we try to apologize to the people we have harmed, not to some supernatural being. We work on making this world better rather than acting as if the only thing that really matters is what happens to us after we die.

Answer 4

Sin is a religious concept. In religious context it implies doing something wrong against God or against rules set down by God. So no I don't believe in sin. I believe in morality, right and wrong choices, and consequences of actions. Although some of my choices that I don't see as sin would not coincide with a religious person who defined their morality by the Bible. I don't believe sex for example is sinful. I lived with my husband before we married. I don't believe it was wrong but rather that it was the best way for me to be sure that this was the person I really wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I think my marriage is way stronger for it.

No one is perfect. We all make mistakes and that isn't always a bad thing if you choose to learn from them. That's what I do when I make a mistake, try to learn from it so I don't make the same ones, fix it or right it if I can, and forgive myself and acknowledge we are all humans doing the best we can.

Answer 5

Sin is different than, for lack of a better word, evil. Sin is doing something that offends god. Making a graven image does, owning a slave doesn't. Evil is something that goes against morality. To my mind art is not evil and slavery is.

Atheists each have a personal moral code. Some might be better than others but, then again, believers have been known to have moral codes that are somewhat warped as well. After all, it was believers who destroyed the Twin Towers (islamic), the Oklahoma City Federal Building (christian), and the King David Hotel (jewish).

Answer 6

I think you're overstating what he said. Christians believe that only Jesus is without sin, and he is therefore perfect. The rest of us are sinners and should recognize it. While I don't think there's 'sin', I still think humans are imperfect, i.e. we're prone to fall for temptations. I also see blind faith as a consequence of our imperfection. We tend to see connections where there aren't any and we like to follow leaders we know little about.

I think the proper way to handle man's imperfections is to make sure that people go to school and learn about other people's point of view; make sure that our institutions don't stand and fall with one man's weakness (the three pillars of the U.S. Government is a nice example). Etc.

Answer 7

ok, let me just make it plain so you can understand it...it si the same as most christians rejecting gay marriage...they say they dont want it to be called marriage because marriage is what they have, so they just want that the same idea having a different name.
Same with sin, sin for you is an idea related to god, what you call sin i call moral wrong or bad behaviour...it is more or less the same idea but your sin has a divine connection that i dont accept, a sin is a moral wrong void of any divine connection

Answer 8

I, as an atheist, most certainly do NOT believe in "sin." But "sin" has nothing to do with morality. "Sin" is the idea that certain specific acts offend God. It's really a descendant of the old primitive notion of "taboo." The savages invented a "god" to protect and provide for them; when he failed to do so, they came to the conclusion that they had somehow offended the god. Hence all the elaborate lists of proscribed acts, of which the "OT" furnishes us with many examples.

The idea of "morality" does not necessarily involve that of "God." It may be based on purely pragmatic considerations such as mutual protection. If I murder a man, e.g., I forfeit my own right to protection.

Answer 9

No, sinning is a religious concept, where a bad deed is judged by God. Atheists still believe in immorality, but they do things according to their own conscience, instead of some dude up in the sky.

Answer 10

Atheists do not believe in sin but they are in denial of God. They have no excuse for their unconfessed sins. Satan has them living under false delusions. They would rather bel;ieve a lie than accept the truth.The invitation for the atheists is found in Romans 10:9; and 1john 1:9. My prayer is that they will someday discover the joy of knowing Christ as their personal Savior.

Answer 11

Sin is a religious word. It does not mean doing wrong, making mistakes, or being imperfect, which everyone is. Sin is the religious word for those things. The nonregilious use different words.